AN: I am pleased with my steady progression. I hope you do too.


Part 5:

The giant billboards, cartoonish mascots, and garish ads gave him a headache. There was no escaping. It felt like they were following him everywhere he walk.

Where was the fun stuff? The young man had combed the streets of the famous electric wonderland searching for entertainment for two whole hours now. The sun was almost setting and all he found was useless gadgetry, electronic appliances, computers and what seems like heaps of the latest and greatest phones on the market. He wasn't interested on all that stuff. These mindless devices gave him no satisfaction. They were too singular. He needed interaction.

Despite the majority of detractions though, to amuse himself while thus bored, he began to discretely acquire items without paying. It was almost too easy and ironic too, given how most of the shops didn't even install security cameras. It took a bit of practice with smaller items but as the day continued, he graduated to more expensive items, thus shops with higher security measures.

By the time he relented and regroups at the nearest JR station, the young man hopped onto a train and sat at a secluded corner to check his loot. His camera bag and coat pockets were filled to brimming with items. Besides the ever present SLR camera, lenses and filters, he managed to acquire two more C class digital cameras, a high end translator dictionary, a PDA type smart phone, two laser point pens, a Sony PSP, five mini mp3 players, and a hentai deck of cards featuring various depictions of a human/fox type of hybrid. The last was his crowning prize.

In spite of the popular belief among his brethrens, the young man found the concept, instead of sickening, to be quite arousing. And since his mind was already heading in that direction, the young man realized he didn't mind enacting out some of his immediate fantasies.

First things first though, he needed money. Perhaps, lots of money given how his cohorts who share his particular fetish had expounded upon this fact. With this in mind, the young man packs all the loot back up and change train at Tokyo Station. If he remembers correctly, Kabukicho in Shinjuku wasn't just known for their nightly entertainments, it also has the handiest pawn shops.


The young man stepped out from the back of the pawn shop to the darken alleyway. His person felt lighter and heavy with the amount of cash he collected for all the items. He hadn't intended for his little afternoon escapade to be so lucrative. In the future, he decided to keep that option in mind. It may be worth the headache after all.

What surprised him though, of all the items he'd acquire, it was the camera and accessories he had with him from the start that had the pawn shop owner salivating. If he'd known how much that contraption was worth from the beginning, he would have bartered it the first chance he got. No matter, he'd pawned everything except for the deck of cards. He even included that pesky phone with the ugly dangle. There was no accounting for someone else's taste.

On that line of thought, the young man took a long inspection of his own threadbare clothes. A look of disgust crosses his features. This just wouldn't do. Shaking his head in negation, he decided to spend his newly acquire cash on something more refine. If one intended to impress the ladies of the night, one needs to dress for the occasion. With that thought set, the young man put both hands inside his pocket and began whistling a tune. He exits the alley and steps foot onto the busy streets of Shinjuku. His night was just beginning.


The pawn shop owner thought he could recognize a thief whenever he saw one. That assertion had made him question his own judgment as soon as the young man from earlier walked through his doors. He'd never seen the fellow before and was certainly not one of his regulars. He didn't have the usual desperate look about him as most others often do when they enter his shop. The encounter left him pleasantly surprised and dare he say, entertained.

The young man was handsome and had an easy going smile. Just a kid really. He was the kind who would pick up a thousand yen note and give it back to the person who dropped it. Thus, the shop owner felt more than surprised to see him inquire quite politely about selling some used items of his. Though all the stickers were removed, the electronics were brand spanking new. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. He raised a brow in comment and the young man had finally donned a different mask in lieu of the city bumpkin.

He should have known then to be wary. The crafty fellow was an old pro. The negotiation, though lighthearted, had an underlining mercenary air. Despite the minor loss of profit margin for most of the stolen goods, the young man surprisingly didn't barter at all for the items that were used. The SLR camera was an antique and in still working condition. All the accessories were there. He could see it was well taken care of. Being the good businessman, the shop owner didn't let on the value of the camera and attachments. He gave an offer the other was surprised to receive. No counteroffer was given. Surely, the item was worth twice if not three times the amount offered. No matter. It was his now.

Giddy with his new acquirements, the shop owner went about removing any telltale signs that the goods were stolen. All he needed was to toss it gently a few times on the wood counter and take a sheet of sandpaper to add a touch of scruff marks. He had to activate a few items without alerting the officials but that was easy enough. Crack codes and confirmation numbers were easy to generate given the right software tools. He knew a few hackers just for that purpose. It didn't hurt to keep them on the books as consulting fees. The only thing left was the fairly used phone the kid sold. It was the only item besides the SLR camera that looks personalized.

As soon as the shop owner turns the device on, he was bombarded by a generic ringtone. Luckily the device was one of those that had an unlock switch instead of using a pass code. He only intended to end the call but as soon as he unlocked it, the call went through and he heard a voice he'd never thought to be privilege enough to interact with.

"Takaba. Where are you?"

He thought he was mistaken and checked the caller id to be sure. His face immediately pale, his hands began to shake. Sure enough, it was HIM.

The shop owner didn't know what to do.

The young fellow must be an important kid to have that private number line. What if he was an important man to the caller? Another thought hit him, what if the phone was stolen too?

His thoughts were becoming frazzled. To answer or not to answer?

"Takaba."

The tone demanded to make the decision for him. The shop owner tentatively raises the shaky phone to his ear and responds. He had to clear his voice first to recover some level of courage and yet it still came out as a squeak.

"Ah— Ah— Asami-sama…"

There was a moment of silence. Then,

"Who is this?"

If the tone before he thought was menacing, those three letter words spoken in such wintry cold voice made him pee in his pants. He just knew that damn kid was trouble the minute that mask dropped. The shop owner plans to fine tune his judgment in regards to polite handsome young men, if he survives the night that is.


To Reviewer:

Chickie434- Thanks for reading. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. I hope the plot isn't too transparent. Don't worry about Akihito, he bounces back quickly. Thats why I love to write about him.